So for those of you who do not know what an antidepressant is, basically like the name suggests, it is a medication that treats depression. Antidepressants are supposed to help boost your mood, improve your sleep as well as appetite and concentration. That sounds like a very good cure for people with depression right? Well the problem is that there are also negative factors involved when taking antidepressants. They are known to have side effects as well as dangers to them as well. This is why there has been an ongoing controversy about whether or not patients should take antidepressants. In this post I will be discussing both sides of the spectrum then giving my intake on it.
Arguments in favour of antidepressants
Despite the opinions that bash at the negative effects of antidepressants, there are many people out there that believe antidepressants work and are beneficial for patients diagnosed with depression. There are test results to support that the benefits outweigh the risks. Apparently, 61% of the public agrees that antidepressants are effective and approximately 60-70% of studies show that antidepressants reduce and manage depression better than placebos. This being said most people that have had successful encounters with antidepressants argue that it worked for them and helped them very much.People argue that if doctors have been prescribing these medications for years, they must work to some extent or else they would have stopped using them. In addition, in response to the F.D.A’s black box warning towards antidepressants for
children/teens, this article talks about how the benefits of antidepressants are shown in a trial to be greater than their risks in teens and children. In their results they found that antidepressants did not increase suicidal thoughts and helped up to dozens more experiencing those thoughts. They expressed how depression itself was already a risk for suicidal behaviour. Also many people think that it is less time consuming compared to psychotherapy as you just take a pill instead of taking a few hours each week.
children/teens, this article talks about how the benefits of antidepressants are shown in a trial to be greater than their risks in teens and children. In their results they found that antidepressants did not increase suicidal thoughts and helped up to dozens more experiencing those thoughts. They expressed how depression itself was already a risk for suicidal behaviour. Also many people think that it is less time consuming compared to psychotherapy as you just take a pill instead of taking a few hours each week.
Arguments against Antidepressants
As time progresses there has been more and more objections towards taking antidepressants because people believe the risks outweigh the benefits of it. People opposed to antidepressants feel that it is not very effective and are harmful. They worry about the side effects associated with taking antidepressants such as nausea, headaches, muscle spasms, reduced blood clotting capacities, and increased thoughts of suicide and violence. The FDA has reported over 20,000 cases of such feelings and actions. In addition, I found from this website that a major U.S. government study that came out in 2006 had shown that less than 50 percent of people on antidepressants become symptom-free despite trying two different medications. They argue that a lot of people who do respond to medication fall back into depression within a short time even though they stick with drug treatment. The website also expresses that researchers do not know a lot about how antidepressants work. Because there is no test to find out the amount of serotonin in the brain, we cannot even find out where normal or low levels of serotonin lie. Therefore people who are not lacking in serotonin would not respond to some antidepressants such as Prozac that increase serotonin levels in the brain.
There is much controversy with regards to taking antidepressants for depression. In my opinion, I am leaning more towards not taking antidepressants unless it is very severe and you have tried all the other options already. I was asking my best friend how she felt when she was on antidepressants and she told me that it was just horrible. She told me that the second time she tried antidepressants her doctor put her on a higher dosage which she thought was terrible. She took an antidepressant called fluoxetine for 3 months and stopped because she didn't like it. She told me that she ended up feeling less herself and more like a zombie. She would eat and sit at the dinner table but she would be emotionless. One night she also ended up taking a bunch more pills at once because it made her feel suicidal and not think straight which is one of the side effects of taking antidepressants. Nonetheless this is just her experience and may differ amongst people.
Heres a list of some of the side effects I found from this website:
Side effects of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
As you can see there are numerous side effects to taking antidepressants which is why I believe it may not be a very good option. It is also questionable that doctors even overprescribe antidepressants because they don't have much time and knowledge to completely evaluate their patients’ mental health and suggest to them about other therapies. I read here that physicians may give limited information to patients when they prescribe antidepressants while often leaving out important information that may promote adherence. this was from the conclusions of a randomized experiment consisting of 152 general internists and family physicians recruited from solo and group practices and health maintenance organizations.
Heres a list of some of the side effects I found from this website:
Side effects of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
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As you can see there are numerous side effects to taking antidepressants which is why I believe it may not be a very good option. It is also questionable that doctors even overprescribe antidepressants because they don't have much time and knowledge to completely evaluate their patients’ mental health and suggest to them about other therapies. I read here that physicians may give limited information to patients when they prescribe antidepressants while often leaving out important information that may promote adherence. this was from the conclusions of a randomized experiment consisting of 152 general internists and family physicians recruited from solo and group practices and health maintenance organizations.
So furthermore, although there are many opinions about whether or not you should take antidepressants, I think that you should form your own opinion and do your background research to determine if it’s the right thing for you. There are success stories of it and failure stories of it so who knows, maybe it will work for you! My best friend recovered when she was off medication and decided she was going to live. She made goals for herself and got rid of the negative people that were in her life. Sometimes you may just need the right amount of motivation to believe in your own self worth and will power. Remember there are people who care about you and will always support you.I hope this post helped some of you and good luck :)
-Vivian
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